


Aya and I

by sugarby



Category: DRAMAtical Murder
Genre: AU, Domesticity, F/M, Gen, M/M, dad!Aoba, daddy!Noiz, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-13
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-21 01:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2450189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugarby/pseuds/sugarby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Noiz has a week with his seventeen year old daughter while Aoba's visiting on Midorijima.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aya and I

**Author's Note:**

> Written feels for an idea I had.
> 
> As usual, it became (a little) longer than I intended and I'll proofread later when it's not so late, but hopefully it's a good read for you guys. So please enjoy~

**Monday, 13:40, D-5**

 

"So...What do you want to do?"

"...I don't know."

Aya has been at silent standstill for the last ten minutes in the pristine establishment that is Platinium Jail's airport, watching a plane take off in to the sky. And with nothing else she could think of doing meanwhile, her only means of entertaining herself on the spot had been to kick her right leg out back and forth repeatedly. So transfixed on the airborne transport (which has normally taken off with her on board), she was mesmerized by it's departure, and for a while it seemed like she wouldn't acknowledge the man standing beside her.

He's been waiting all this time with a patience he's not too long ago had to produce and grow accustomed to. As Aya adamantly kept watch on the plane, his focus had been on the view nice weather outside the large, spotless glass panels duplicated around the airport's interior. Sunshine's pouring in and splashing out warm shades of Honey Oregold across the tiled flooring and the sky is a comforting blue. It's the kind of comfort that makes a person feel like nothing is going to go wrong. Like the days ahead won't be a disastrous unveil.

That'd be nice actually. But it's not something the weather can predict. 

Uncertainty prods at Noiz a little more and the red tie around his neck feels tighter. "What? Not planning a party I'm not invited to?"

"Nah. Not yet."

 _That better be a joke_. Noiz adjusts his head in a downwards tilt at the girl only a few inches under his height. She's perfect. Perfectly still after ceasing the leg movement, perfectly poised with her arms clasped behind her back and the curve of her hip jutting out, and perfectly blessed with a beauty he can't see from his present angle but he's seen her face before and the way the bangs of her long hair are crafted to suit its shape.

Whatever she's thinking right now, he can't tell because she's not a computer he can hack in to. And in the slimmer than slim chances of her being a machine, in the run of things she would flash warning signs and errors in front of him, ambushing his attempt to crack her code and demanding that he leave. It's not much different from having the door slammed in his face, in fact it's a memorable similarity.

She has a longing look in her eyes that lingers as she stares out at the plane.

It's a longing that Noiz relates to in his own way.

Once the plane is finally out of her sights, the tail of it fading through a grouping of clouds, she turns to her right and Noiz can see her face now and its entirely changed expression; eyes lit up and lips smoothing out in to a grin. It's one look of hers that Noiz can analyze and he tenses.

"I know what we can do!" Aya says brightly, a finger lifted. "Let's go and get my belly button pierced!"

"No."

"Eh?...But--"

"Other than that, is there anything you want to do?"

Aya hums as she thinks it over, a gun-shaped hand resting under her chin. "Let's see...A-ha! I've got it!" She snatches a portion of the grey suit jacket and tugs at Noiz's elbow just as he was starting to leave. He looks over his shoulder and down at her and that's her signal to go ahead. "I want to eat an ice-cream sundae thiiiiiiiis big," She says, narrating the desired size by extending the gap between her held up hands, and her smile widening in sync. "With glace cherries and everything on top!"

"How old are you again?"

"Your age subtract a hundred!"

"I'm not that old." says Noiz sulkily. "Aoba says so."

"But he's not here, is he?" Aya knowingly asserts, a mighty triumphant grin showing and her arms firmly crossed over her thick, deep blue sweater. "Ah, looks like you'll need a lawyer this time."

"That's not a problem for me, I can afford one." Noiz smirks at her and asks, "Can you?"

Aya's smile falls as she stiffens under embarrassment and that cruel smirk. He's asking her if she can afford a professional in place of her usual supporter who's absent until next week. "L-Listen you...I know scooping ice-cream three days a week might not be living the dream but I'm gaining experience and paying for my way in this world!" She defends. "And you should be proud of me!"

"Who says I'm not?" Noiz rubs her head, and doing so messes up the loose strands on top. He smiles at Aya as she tries to swat his hand away but can't quite reach. "You look cute in your uniform and hat. I like it when you tie your hair up."

Aya covers her ears. "I'm not listening, lalalalala!~"

Stubborn, cute, and childish quirks here and there...it's nearly unbearable to be around her.

It's uncanny, even given the circumstances that make it possible.

Before, Noiz presumed he could get away with trying not to miss his partner too much because he has Aya. Yet watching her is only increasing the strain on their separation, making him more aware of their absence.

He'd like for the week they have to themselves to go smoothly without any--or barely any--severe mishaps and deep self dug holes he might find he can't hop out of. For that to happen, no matter what it's important for Noiz to find the right balance between being an insatiable, endless teasing asshole, and someone tolerable. And he has to grip on to the fact that while they may look and, in cases, behave alike,

Aya is Aya and she isn't Aoba.

 

 

 

**Tuesday, 17:21, D-4**

 

Work isn't like how it usually is.

It's always been a dragging bore but Noiz believed it had a limit.

It sucks to be wrong.

So, Noiz leaves early because work isn't the same today, though it won't be the same tomorrow or the next few days after that either because there's no incentive to get anything done, because there's no partner to visit him with a cup of coffee, telling him to work hard but not overwork himself. No partner to lean on when he's stressed or tires. No partner to feed him lunch after enough pestering and plays of the youth card. And no partner to hold and pull in to his lap and canoodle and spend time enjoying the company of and remember _this is what love feels like_.

Noiz unlocks the door using the apartment's set up key-code and walks in. "I'm home." He announces to Aya on the couch, dressed in her usual uniform of the place she hasn't long left and watching Adventure Time on the wall mounted flat screen tv.

"Hey." Aya welcomes.

That's it. Not what Noiz was hoping for when he came back home but then again, what he's been hoping for; a kiss, hug and a praise of "you've worked hard" won't mean much unless it comes from the person who is currently away. There won't be any escalating mishap either of teasing his partner so much that he turns red, becomes hot and his means of retaliation end with him submitting for the rest of the evening. Oh well, he should really be grateful if the new few nights are peaceful. It's just until next week.

 _'Better get a move on then'_ Noiz thinks, wanting to get through today and the rest of the week as quickly and efficiently as possible. He yanks at his tie to loosen it and the force of the tug has the first two buttons of his white shirt coming undone as well.

"Can we order takeout for dinner tonight?" asks Aya.

"Sure." Noiz wasn't about to cook anyway, as usual.

"But not pizza."

"What's wrong with it?" Nothing's wrong with Pizza, he's indirectly questioning the girl's sanity, asking what's wrong with her (unless he misheard and on top of his confidence to get through the week well he's losing is hearing at a young age).

"Come on, we had pizza last night and the night before that. I want a break!"

"Pizza is pizza and it's always good, there's no need for a break."

Aya rolls her eyes at the weird logic as she turns around and gets up to kneel on the couch and send a look of desperation, eyes pleading. "Chinese food, Indian food, Mexican food, or Western food or Sushi."

"When have you had sushi?"

"Lu took me out for lunch once at The Sushi Garden."

The name of a boy Noiz isn't very fond puts a frown on his face. Lu is some brunet (in some lightning, it looks a midnight shade of blue) kid that can play the guitar and at the same time does exceedingly well in school whom Aya happens to have a strong liking towards--Unfortunately for Noiz. And what's more unfortunate is that this Lu kid possibly shares the same feelings for Aya (which isn't difficult to understand because she's perfect, but it's not good news for Noiz either way).

In the past, Aya mentioned that she wanted to invite Lu over for dinner.

Noiz mentioned that he would challenge him to a rhyme match.

In the end Lu wasn't invited round by Aya and Noiz didn't the chance to meet him, and hasn't since. He's only seen him from afar walking with Aya and talking to Aya and making her laugh. But Noiz's partner has met him, luckily. It was in passing at a grocery store, and his partner's kind nature and comforting character seemed to bold well with him. That gave his parnter a point in Aya's good books, leaving Noiz to sulk alone.

"Pasta then?" Noiz bargains. Speaking of his partner, if they were here right now then they'd insist that they eat a healthy home cooked meal--greatly developed culinary skills or not. But his partner isn't here and as Noiz decided from earlier, he's not up for putting whatever he finds in their cupboards and fridge together and seeing if they turn in to something edible.

"Fine." Aya agrees, softly sighing as she turns around to sit properly and watch the rest of Adventure Time.

 _'Good'_ , Noiz thinks, thankful, and makes the call to order pasta from an italian place not too far. Then, he heads in to his bedroom and undresses to change in to casual wear. He pulls on a sweater and slips on plain pyjama pants, all the while trying not to over-think the way the room is colder and empty-looking with half of the bed untouched; as neat as it was before it was bought by a couple.

The food arrives in less than twenty minutes, and in less than two the two of them are situated on the couch together with their food in their laps, Aya's light salad dressing and diet cola and all.

"Thanks for the food." Aya says her routinely dinner gratitude and begins to eat her pasta.

Noiz has three generous forkfuls and then a big gulp of soda before offering, "Want to watch a movie?"

"Okay."

"Not twilight."

"Then why even offer? Stupid."

"Don't call me stupid."

"I just said it out loud." Aoba argues not even wholeheartedly as she sets down her food on the table and works her coil to pull up a selection of movies on NETFLIX. In the lot, she picks out a Japanese animated film about time travel titled 'The Girl Who Leapt Through Time'. She's watched this film a few times, enough to know the story backwards. And enough to feel like the longing feeling she felt when she watched the plane take off yesterday come back.

The film runs nicely but Noiz isn't paying it any attention. Instead, he's taking the time to admire Aya; her hair and it's length and color, and just her being here with him. If not for her then he would be getting reacquainted with the cruel familiarity of loneliness again. And thinking back to his awful childhood, comparing it to now, he's suddenly driven by a whelmed gratefulness that he expresses to Aya in the form of a kiss on her forehead.

"Wha-What's with you?!" Aya gasps, startled, and moves back a bit.

"Nothing," says Noiz. "You're just very beautiful."

Aya fidgets in discomfort but she couldn't fight off the light blush appearing on her face. "Stop! Quit being gross, I'm eating!"

"What's gross about an honest compliment?"

"Everything when _you_ say it!" Aya snaps as she grabs her food from the table. "Just watch the film!"

"I'd rather watch you instead since I know how much you like my _undivided_ attention."

Aya flicks a cherry tomato at him.

Noiz catches it in his mouth and pierces it. "It's sweet." He comments as the juices flow. He chuckles at the way Aya huffs and turns her body away from him like it'll help her to concentrate on the film while he's still in the room. "I wonder what Aoba would say."

"He'd tell you to quit being a brat and bullying me and watch the film!"

 

 

 

**Wednesday, 14:02, D-3**

  
"This is a date." Noiz says to the surprised face while leaning against the slim black car he drove here straight from work (he left early again-- _earlier_ , in fact. And he's practically taken the rest of the week off too which Aya hopes isn't for the sake of unexpected visits to her school (no wonder Lu had legged it in the middle of their conversation when they came out of the building). "We're on a date, so I'm going to pay for everything."

"There's no need, I can pay for myself. You don't have to spoil me."

"I'll always spoil you. You're my beautiful girl."

Aya blushes, something she hasn't been known for doing until recently being left alone with him. "Not so loud, people can hear!" She hisses, head turning this way and that in caution of passing schoolmates. It's bad enough to deal with this at home but outside her school as well?!

"Good, it'll lessen the amount of guys you could leave me for."

 _'This again.'_ Aya sighs. t's another round she can't win by herself and the best option in this situation is to humor him. "Well I can only stand you for so long. But if you're gonna pay for everything--you said that, right? Then I know exactly what I want out of this date. You brought out the black card?"

Noiz opens the left side of his suit jacket and takes out his leather wallet from the inside pocket. He opens that as well and lets several black plastic cards unravel, stopping a little passed his knees. He's explaining to a priceless face again. "Since I came here by surprise I didn't know which card you'd want to use so I brought out all the family ones."

Aya's widened eyes are glued to the cards that are just the _family_ cards, so not including the couple hundred others he owns. He's known for doing astonishing stunts like this, it's why she can't take him anywhere. "Just one would've been more than enough!"

"You sure? I know you can get wild when you're shopping. What was it last time?..." Noiz pretends he needs time to think when really he's letting letting his infamous smirk spread across. "That's right. You came back with twenty-three different bags and seventeen pairs of designer underwear and--"

"Okay, enough!" Aya shouts with a redder complexion than before. "The bags came as a package and I got them for a good deal! And the u-underwear....." Not a subject she's comfortable talking about with this man but, "....They're really pretty!...B-But none of this is your business!"

"It'll always be my business. It's my business before any other boy's."

"Fine, whatever." Aya sighs and makes a beeline for the passengers' side door.

Noiz opens it for her, and then it occurs to him that perhaps, what if Aya buying more than five pairs of underwear is related to the specifically stressful few days every woman has to go through as part of growing up? It's an issue almost forbidden to speak of, and he's not thinking about the sensitivity of it as much as he is the case of Aya handling it well or not.

"Do you still get those really bad cramps?"

Aya stills in place, awkwardly positioned in two horrible ways.

"Aya. Aya?"

"....!!!"

"One hundred years younger than me Aya."

She knows better than most people that he won't quit until she answers. Face burning with embarrassment, she hides half of it in an incomplete turn, and gives him only a side glance when she mumbles, "...My menstrual cramps aren't something to tease me about."

"I know."

"How can you possibly know that?!" She shouts in accusation, because how can a man know the first thing about a woman's monthly visitor from hell and how suffering it is? Her genuine anger leads Noiz to misunderstand and think she's questioning his perception of pain in general after being without the sense of touch for most of his life.

"You're right." admits Noiz. "But at least let me know when the pain comes back. I'll make sure to call the ambulance and have them prepare a private room."

"I'm not going to die, jeez!" Aya exasperates. She gets in to the passenger's side of the car and pulls on the handle hard, slamming the door shut.

Noiz, confused, thinks that odd because he's heard women say the exact opposite.

 

 

 

**Thursday, 19:03, D-2**

 

Noiz isn't an expert in having "the talks"; serious heart-to-heart conversations when needed between people who are closely acquainted. He hasn't been close to anyone, much less anything other than fast food, sleep deprivation and routinely meaningless fights until he met his partner. What he needed for most of his solo lifestyle alongside freedom from being cooped up in a multi-functional room was guidance.

Someone to be there and make sense of his problems that he couldn't help because there wasn't anyone who wanted to try.

That person, the guidance he finally found and secured turned out to be the unexpected match in his best game, and not too long after they became his lover and importance in his current life.

It was a tough journey but it's not over yet, and there isn't a chance he can bare it alone. But after yesterday when he stepped heavier than usual on a sensitive subject and it drove Aya to resent him for the rest of the afternoon, he's realised that he's now in a position to be a guidance to someone. Aya's problems are probably not anything remotely alike to his childhood mistreatment, just borderline teenage tantrums and decisions made in a bi-polar state of mind that she regrets.

Nevertheless, a problem is still a problem. And as his temporary single parenting hasn't proceeded quite exceptionally, it should be about time he does something about it while the opportunity is still there.

Either that or wait to be murdered by his partner.

"Aya, come in for a sec, I want to talk to you." He calls from the kitchen table as the seventeen year old passes by the doorway, a bottle of chilled water in hand she fetched on her way to her bedroom.

Usually when a parent says that it can't be for a good reason. Aya steps back, turns and walks in to the kitchen, wearily, suspiciously eyeing the man across from her.

"I'm not Aoba." Noiz says, believing that to be a good place to start--by eliminating the obvious comparison. "My method of taking care of you is very different but he and I love you the same."

"I know."

"So if there's something bothering you, I don't care how minor it is, you can talk to me. I'll even use money to make it go away, it's not an issue for me."

"Thanks but I'm okay. Nothing's going on at the minute." Aya assures, excluding this conversation because it's doubtful that there are enough black cards to buy her out of it. She can only stress her well-being. "Really, I'm fine."

Noiz squints skeptically. "I thought you were Aya?"

Aya can't believe the smooth slip of the unwanted dad joke she should've seen coming somewhere in all this. "I'm going to my room now."

"I'm not finished. Sit down, I promise I won't say another joke." His laid-on thick to sound serious tone commands. The screeching rattles his ears as she sits down again, and he moves on with their talk. "Alright, presuming a lot in your life is currently to your satisfaction, I want to ask you something else regarding your acquaintance. That Lu kid...I want to know if and where he's touched you and was it forced?"

" _Oh my god_ \--yes but I allowed him to, it's not a crime to hold hands or hug a friend!"

"I won't hesitate to punch the shit out of him." claims Noiz on behalf of the part of him that would really enjoy a reason to break the little romeo. Until he's reminded by the appalled look on Aya's face that this week isn't about him, it's about her. "If it'll make you happy, I mean."

"It won't, thanks though."

"Tell me if he puts sexual advances on you and I can--"

"Good _bye_ , daddy."

Noiz frowns as the chair legs go back again and watches the back of his daughter as she gladly leaves the kitchen. This isn't how their heart-to-heart is meant to end, and leaning outwards so his voice can travel out through the door, he puts out, "In case it wasn't already obvious, you're not having sex until you're forty or unless you can beat me at rhyme, and we both know which is unlikely and which is just a matter of time!"

His irrational choice of disclosing a conversation that could have gone miles better gets a frustrated scream and slam of a seventeen year old girl's bedroom door.

 

 

 

**Friday, 20:42, D-1**

 

"NOIZ-SAAN!~" A cheery cry comes from the excited man on the screen of Noiz's Macbook Pro, connected and able to be seen in high definition through the operating video calling program--Skype. The man is an unforgettable weirdo who is--for an unexplained reason that's probably just as weird--insistent on covering his face up with a gas mask. Beside him is another familiar face that's only half hidden by a long, navy bang specifically style like that by a kimono wearing hairdresser. "Good evening! I am so haaaappy to hear from you and to be able to see you again! It's been way too long, hasn't it?!"

Not long enough if you ask Noiz.

"Hi." He goes about trying to sound civil when the reality is that he wants to yank out the battery charger and cut the call he was planning on being engaged in for a long night short, much like his patience for these people.

The gas mask man gets all excited again as he points a finger to the camera. "It's Aya-chan as well! Good evening, Aya-chaan!~" He waves excessively to the girl he can see walking passed behind Noiz in the dim background. "Hello! It's me, Clear! Do you remember me? It's been a long time!"

Aya stopped on her way to her bedroom, dressed in a pink robe covering her nakedness under the cream colored towel she wrapped around herself after a shower. She waved back at the screen to be polite to the eccentric youth practically jumping out of his seat. "Yeah, it's nice to see you again, uncle Clear. You too, uncle Koujaku."

Koujaku leans sideways to fit better in to the camera's focus and waves back with a smile that's famous for making women go crazy. "Yo! Good evening, Aya! My, my, you've become prettier since the last time I saw you. Haha, breaking many hearts over there I presume?"

Noiz glares at him. Koujaku's the _last_ person he wants Aya attracting. "Oi, old man, what would Aoba say about your pedophilia?"

"It's not--I'm not a pedophile! Shut up, you beansprout with a giant fucking he--" Koujaku stops himself with a couple of coughs, excusing his bad language. "Uh, anyway...So how's it going over there with you two? You're handling things... _moderately_ well, aren't you?"

"Are Noiz-san and Aya-chan playing lots of board games together?" Clear jumps in with enthusiasm. Then, he gasps and single claps. "Oh! It's quite a shame that I'm not there with the both of you. The three of us could have a lot of fun playing Monopoly or Scrabble or Hungry Hippos! Ah, and I was taught how to play Chess by my grandpa!"

All of those sound ridiculously uninteresting to Noiz. "No one plays board games in this day and age, weirdo."

"Eh? No way! But they're so much fun!"

"Back to what I asked you before," Koujaku speaks. "How are you handling things with Aya?"

"It's different with her..." Noiz starts to reply, thinking along the way how to explain feelings he hasn't ever felt before until recently. They barely make sense to him, let alone his partner's good friends, no matter how strange they are. So he does his best. "She's a lot like him in a lot of ways and yet the originality of them both is strong too. It's weird. And in the time I've spent with her during this week, I've felt differently. It's like, although I don't love her the way I love Aoba, it's annoying that my heart feels like it's gonna shrivel up and give up on me if I can't make Aya happy and keep her safe."

He can't believe it's him saying all of this.

In the past, he would've never believed he would have a reason to.

New like an entire foreign planet, or like a certain someone who was once even more foreign, he's afraid he may not be able to trust what his heart and instincts are congregating together to push him towards. 

But Clear and Koujaku seem to understand apparently, which is strange, and makes them stranger since neither of them have any children. They look at each other with smiles that are soft, catering to the serious matter, and then they direct it at Noiz.

"Ah, so it's like that." says Clear, nodding along. "Well, Aya-chan is Noiz-san's girl after all."

"That's right." Koujaku nods too. "Just be aware of all the boys a beautiful, young woman like her will attract. When a punk like you already loves her this much then what about the others?"

"I'll make sure to send a restraining order over there for you to sign, you old pedo."

"What?! Shitty brat, I said I'm not--!!"

Noiz exits skype with a tiny click and no regrets.

From behind, he hears footsteps descending on the stairs, and turning round he's not the least bit pleased to see Aya wearing a showy [ensemble](http://weheartit.com/entry/141455881/search?context_type=search&context_user=JennSecret&page=7&query=kfashion) he didn't know was lying around in her wardrobe. "Where are you going dressed like that?" He questions, arms crossing over his chest as he comes over for a closer inspection. 

"To a party."

So the gathering mentioned a few days back that he wouldn't be invited to, so it wasn't a joke.

Unfortunately for _her_.

"Take that off and go to your room."

"Eh?! But it's just a--"

"What would Aoba say if he saw you wearing that?"

"He's not here!" Aya sourly reminds him. "Seriously, it's just, like, a _small_ party."

"There's no chance in hell that I'll allow weirdos and other sorts to gawk at you dressed like that. Who do I need to beat the shit out of for you to get that through your stubborn head?"

Aya opened her mouth in shock at the swear word, surprised to hear it in conversation with her. She shakes her head and then stumbles in to a cycle of insulting labels. "You're acting like a scary, possessive husband! Like a criminal!" she cries. "Yakuza husband! Yakuza kindergartner husband! No, a yakuza kindergartner but also one hundred years older than me husband!"

Noiz rolls his eyes under briefly shut lids, exhaling a short, frustrated huff. "I know you still hate me because of yesterday, but put that aside for a second and try to understand why--"

"I don't hate you. When did I ever say that?!" Oh, that's Noiz's mistake. But honestly, what else is he to think after being ignored for half of the day; being walked passed like an uninvited ghost? Aya sympathies with his helpless look and feels she owes him a thorough explanation, anger diminishing along the way. "I was just mad and embarrassed! I mean...Haven't you heard the things you say?! I get that you're looking out for me but you're being overprotective."

"Overprotective?" Noiz repeats, a brow quirking upwards as he takes offence by that word. _Ungrateful,_ he thinks, scoffing. "You obviously don't know how the world is."

"And neither do you!" Aya screams lividly. Trying so much to not be mad but feeling her restraint slip away like leaves in the fall, it's something she hasn't experienced before so there's no way she can predict how this will end. But in the mingling of conflicting emotions, she does know that she doesn't want to fall out with Noiz and that the things he's said and done up to now...It's complicated but she's starting to see where it's coming from. "I know that you haven't had a decent childhood. And I get that for a while you didn't have-- _couldn't see_ a reason to live because all you knew was that one room your parents kept you in. But eventually you met someone and he's changed your life and still trying to show you that world isn't such a bad place, right?"

"...Yeah."

At that time, back when Noiz was alone....he didn't know what to do to help himself and he didn't know anything. That's when someone came and showed him a way out of his loneliness, a way to live.

But without that someone, how's he supposed to know any better?

"To have someone like that in your life must be really amazing." Aya believes from what she's been brought up around, smiling at the warming memories. "I know that you're trying to do for me almost exactly what he's doing for you but you can't keep away from all the bad things, you need to balance it with the good. So, I know that I can be mad at you sometimes because you tend to go on teasing me, but I'm always grateful. And I feel incredibly lucky to have you."

She steps forward not minding that he might be fuming inside at having her talk over him.

And she hugs him.

Noiz is still like he's been glued on the spot.

In a lot of ways, it's effortless for Aya to remind him of his partner, and there doesn't appear to be a limit on how often that'll surprise him. 

" _I'm_ the lucky one, silly girl." Noiz sets her straight on that and wraps his arms around her gently, but with security, and kisses the top of her head. "I'll always be here for you for as long as you need me. I don't need to be anywhere else."

"Stupid, you're my daddy and I'll always need you." she half chuckles, half coughs out a sob she failed to suppress. "Besides, I can't leave a hundred year old kindergartner by himself."

"Oi, I already told you that Aoba--"

"I love you."

Momentarily speechless, Noiz gazes down at her.

She can't really mean it, a second of doubt has him thinking.

But he strokes her head again and admires the loving blue in her long hair, kisses her forehead and falls for the genetic but darker green of her eyes, and he knows she's being truthful.

"I love you too, Aya."

Before this week started, Noiz had no idea how to express his love to someone other than his partner since his love for him is the only real love he's ever felt, and it's consisted of teasing and a bit of harassment.

That's why he believed he wouldn't be able to take care of Aya.

Yet, things haven't turned in to an awful descending spiral. They're together here and hugging after a proper talk and they understand each other. It's made things clearer now, granted he still can't handle her by himself as well as he would like to, let alone for a whole week.

But the unbearable worry that was inside him before is much lighter now, and in place of its heavy weight is a warm, shared love.

 

 

 

**Saturday, 10:33 am , D-0**

 

It's quite astonishing that a teenage girl has the energy to run across a bustling town so early in the morning.

Aya Seragaki races through Platinum Jail airport with a fast-paced beating heart a drummer couldn't replicate, weaving in-between crowds, leaping over stairways and catching her balance just to leave the man accompanying in behind again. 

"Come on! Quickly!"

"I'm coming."

"Can't you come any faster?!"

"Not as fast as Aoba."

Aya looks back over her shoulder to pull a face at her father for the lewd, not-so-subtle innuendo he mercilessly leaked. "Ugh, don't." She groans, pleadingly. "Besides, today's the day! Just what do you think he'd say if he heard you huh--Oopfh! Oh, I'm so--" Her collision in to someone had her whipping her head back round, ready to bow and apologise before rushing off again. It's all her father's fault for messing with her again!

Luckily, she's not going to be dealing with him on her own any longer.

Whom she's run in to is fortunately the person she's missed all this time, the person she could hardly sleep thinking about seeing again, the person who Noiz often remarks she looks a lot a like.

It's Aoba, her dad.

He hasn't changed. And from what he caught his daughter saying before she accidentally ran in to him, neither has she nor his husband. So, to that, he at least owes them an answer now that can officially take back his role as the referee in their little spats.

"I'd say that you have no clue how much I've missed you both."

"...Dad!" exclaims Aya, and in the next second she's pushing her face in to his favourite shirt--the famous blue sweater. There's a wet gloss over her eyes that she can feel and blinking them away, she tries to stay strong and not cry. "Yeah, we missed you t-too..."

"I thought you'd be happy to see me again but I can go back and visit granny for a little longer if that's what--ahck!" He flinches at the abrupt kick to his leg telling him that's a terrible idea he shouldn't continue. "Alright, I'm kidding. Jeez, your kicks are unbelievable." Hopping a little, he should've known better than to tease a woman he's been away from for a bit, remembering walking in to the home he was raised in and having a pair of chopsticks thrown at him. 

"Well I got that from you so it's _your_ fault!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll gladly take the blame so don't worry." Aoba jests as the pain calms down, and he rubs soothing circles on the girl's back to reassure her. 

"Aoba."

Aoba looks up in the direction of the new voice. One look is all it takes, a gaze at his partner and he worries that the promise he made on the plane back about not submitting to whatever overwhelms him during the reunion is flying out the station's window panels. He can hold in his tears for Aya's sake, but he can't do anything to calm down his heart around Noiz.

"Get over here already, you brat."

Noiz frowns, "I'm not a brat." though it doesn't last for longer than a second. After that, he's too much in to embracing his partner and feeling the touch of his existence again after a week of separation. Relief starts to fill up in him and he dives his nose in to Aoba's hair, he kisses his head, his cheek and then his lips, and his heart is lifting to an incredibly feeling. "Welcome home, Aoba." He parts to greet. "I've missed you a lot."

"I already said that." Aya mumbles from in fabric of her dad's shirt.

"But I missed him more."

"Get real! You were too busy bullying me this entire week!" Aya's head shot up, looking up at Aoba with pleading eyes. "You hear that, dad? Daddy was a bully to me while you were away! He talked about my woman problems in public!"

"I was being a concerned father."

"He even stole my cherry tomato!"

"You threw it at me."

"And you ate it!"

A bundle of dark, fluffiness that is the treasured family allmate, Ren, pops out of Aoba's bag with his hanging tongue, dark eyes blinking at the young girl. "Aya, I believe your father was following the idiom 'waste not, want not' ."

Aya, happy before, is now completely over the moon. "Ren, I missed you too!"

"Likewise, Aya."

"Well from what I've heard, it sounds like you two had fun." guesses Aoba. "That's good to hear. I kinda felt bad about leaving you by yourselves. And I bet you ate junk food every night just because I wasn't there. Nevermind _me_ telling you off, just think of what _granny_ would say if she knew you weren't eating properly!"

Aya tickles the back of Ren's ears a little, then scoops him in to her arms for a cuddle. She suggests, "Dad, next time you go away let's both find more handsome, richer guys to replace this hundred year older than me kindergartner." 

"Oi, I hope that's a joke." Noiz says, brows narrowing to disagree.

"I'll let you hope that if it'll make you feel better."

"Then I'll sell all the underwear and bags you bought so you can forget about me fast and focus on your new guy."

"I'm joking, daddy. H-Ha ha...." Aya nervously laughs, caught. "I love you the most."

Noiz grins. "Leave the joking around to me."

"Yes, daddy."

Aoba laughs at the pout on his daughter's face. "There's hardly a difference when you two sulk."

"But we know who the master of pouting is, don't we?" Noiz and Aya conceived together after exchanging looks that told each other they were thinking the same thing.

"I-I don't do it that often, shut up, brat!" though regardless, Aoba hates the way he can feel himself doing just that. It's devastatingly hard to win against Noiz. "I should've known leaving you guys alone might come back and bite me."

"That's exactly why you shouldn't do it again! Seriously, dad, daddy and I missed you like crazy! Like, thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis much!" Aya expresses, on her tiptoes and with her arms spread wide and moving up and over her head. "Way more than any sundae I can ever eat!"

Aoba and Noiz look at each other and immediately they know what they're both thinking.

One leans in to the left and the other goes for the right.

And at the same time, Aya feels two kisses on either side of her cheeks, coming from two completely different people but with the same love for her. And sighing in happiness, she feels incredibly lucky.

**Author's Note:**

> "What if Noiz only knows to show his love through teasing but without Aoba around to stop him from going too far he pushes his daughter in to resenting him?" was the kind of idea I had. The general run of their three person family is Noiz teases Aya, Aya runs to Aoba, and Aoba gives Noiz hell.
> 
> Towards writing the end of this story, I actually did research about single fathers raising daughters.
> 
> I know I haven't mentioned Aya owning an allmate and she didn't interact with one until the end (I forgot about usagimodoki ;_;), so I'd like to say that she isn't fussed about having one at the moment. Aoba lets her borrow Ren whenever and he's happy to assist her. And concerning how she was born, I haven't disclosed a solid explanation because I'd like to let you believe whatever you're comfortable with.
> 
> PS. The name 'Aya' apparently translates to mean 'color (彩)' or 'design (綾)', but don't quote me on this, I'm going by what wikipedia says.


End file.
